Hand gun holster



United States Patent [72] Inventor Thomas W. Lloyd Coburg, Oreg.

[21 Appl. No. 786,943

[22] Filed Dec. 26, 1968 [4:] Patented Dec. 29, 1970 [73] Assignee James A. Lloyd Culver City, Calif. In part interest.

[54] HAND GUN HOLSTER Primary Examiner-Gerald M. F orlenza Assistant Examiner-F rank E. Werner Attorney-W. E. Ramsey ABSTRACT: This invention concerns a holster for a handgun, in which a handgun is retained to prevent inadvertent dislodgment, but yet is in such form that a handgun can consciously be withdrawn laterally through an open side of the holster after disengaging a spring release latch. Continued movement permits the handgun smoothly to be pressed into shooting position by tipping the muzzle end of the gun upwardly.

PATENTEU DEBZSIQYB 3550.822

BY INVENTOR Thomas WLIOHd HAND GUN I-IOLSTER The object of my invention is to provide a holster for a handgun, either an automatic pistol or a revolver.

Much attention has been given to holsters of this character that will hold a handgun securely against inadvertent dislodgment but one from which the handgun may easily and quickly be withdrawn by the user. Most holsters require that a handgun be lifted endwise from theholster, out from an open top thereof after first unsnapping a safety strap. This is timeconsuming and takes conscious effort to remove the firearm from the holster and to bring it up to shooting position, cocked and ready for action.

Some holsters have heretofore been devised-which may be removed through an open side of a holster or past a plate having latching mechanisms for fixing the firearm within the holster.

All holsters with which I am familiarrequire a conscious effort in preparing to draw a gun from its holster and to move it into shooting position. I have conceived that such a holster may be provided with a shape to conform generally to the external conformation of the firearm and with a loop or harness for securing it conveniently to the operators body, if it is provided with a spring released latch.

I have provided a swingable latchthat moves across the top of the gun as it is arranged in the holster, with the butt of the firearm projecting rearwardly. The latch is spring-biased to disengaging position and is provided with a trigger that may be actuated by the thumb of the shooting hand so that when the operator grips the butt of the gun, his thumb automatically moves into position to press the trigger so that the spring-bias can throw the latch into disengaging position and the gun may then be pressed" laterally forward into shooting position.

To prevent the gun from being only loosely held in the holster, I provide a cup at the bottom of the holster for receiving only the muzzle of the gun. It is not necessary that this cup be really deep, there three-quarters of an inch, or so, being sufficient. l have discovered that if the gun is swept first horizontally and then tipped up into shooting position, it is automatically lifted out of the cup without requiring conscious effort.

On the other hand, the gun is held against inadvertent dislodgment when it is carried in the holster. Thus, there is no danger to the operator nor is it possible for a suspected criminal to overpower an arresting officer and to take his gun from him.

Various police authorities require that a safety latch be provided for an officers gun when it is carried in the holster. This may be accommodated in a holster embodying my invention by providing atrigger for the safety located immediately adjacent the trigger provided for releasing the holding latch. This permits the operator sequentially to release the safety from the latch and to bring the gun into shooting position with one continuous unbroken movement, and without conscious effort.

Other details of my invention, its construction and the mode of operation thereof are hereinafter described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. I is a holster embodying my invention showing an automatic piston in dotted outline, carried within the holster;

FIG. 2 is a detail plan view, with parts shown broken away, illustrating how the latch may be swung from engaging position to releasing position, by trigger operation, movement being indicated in dashed lines and along arcuate paths;

FIG. 3 is a cross section plan view taken on line 3-3 in FIG.

1 4. with portions shown broken away;

FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional view on the line 4-4 in FIG. 2, through the casing enclosing the pivot mount for the swingable latch, its spring-bias, its trigger and the safety latch; and,

FIG. 5 is a detail view taken on the line 5-5 in FIG. 2, showsuch for example as a plastic. A gun sheath 3 for the holster is of tapered form, as is illustrated in FIG. 1, and is carried by a back or mounting plate 4, that has substantially greater surface area than the sheath 3 of the holster so as to permit it to lie flatwise over the wearers hip or upper thigh. A belt loop 5 is usually formed at the upper end of the mounting plate. It is also common to rivet or otherwise secure the holster to a belt (not shown) and my invention may be constructed in either fashion. At the bottom of the gun sheath 3 of the holster is a cup 6 which constitutes the floor of the holster. The muzzle of a firearm fits snugly therein so that it does not slide about or rattle when carried within the holster sheath.

The mounting plate 4 and the holster sheath have marginal edges that converge uniformly downwardly. as is shown in FIG. 1.

Above the holster is a steppedshoulder portion 7 upon which the base 8, or mounting for latch member 9, is arranged. This shoulder slopes obliquely fore and aft and defines the degree of backward tilt given the pivotal axis of latch 9. This gives the proper instinctive direction of application of pressure upon the trigger 11, relative to the axis for effecting release of latch 9 and drawing the firearm from its holster.

In effect, mounting the mechanism on a sloped base, tips the axis of the mechanism back so the direction of applied pressure of the thumb upon the trigger 11 to release the latch 9, is continued uninterrupted when lifting the gun from the holster and starting it forward to firing position. This is the principal reason for sloping the base 7. This is opposed to necessity in holsters of usual design where backward pressure is necessary for effecting release, thereafter exerting downward pressure to lift the gun from the holster. Thereafter, backward pressure has to be exerted to start it forward. Old type holsters require three interrupted moves if the mechanism is mounted on a base having zero degrees slope.

The mounting plate or belt loop 4 is frequently secured to the back of the holster by two metal screws inserted through multiple horizontally opposed tapped holes, selectively arranged in a metal mounting plate, to vary the degree of rake. The degree of rake of the holster sheath, relative to the belt or harness with which it is secured to the person, determines the rake of the firearm carried therein and is somewhat a matter of choice of the particular user of the gun carried in its holster. It has been my experience that the degree of rake most comfortable to the user with one type of firearm, is sometimes uncomfortable to another user with a different firearm.

As is shown in FIG. 4, the latch member 9 is provided with a spring mechanism 10 which movesthe latch from the position shown in full lines, in FIGS. 2 and 3, to a position radially displaced therefrom, as is indicated in dashed line and by arrows.

The spring mechanism is released by a trigger 11, which swings in a plane substantially parallel to the general plane of the back or mounting plate 4. It is released by pulling back on the trigger 11 (as is shown in FIG. 4) which is naturally accomplished when the user of the gun wishes to retract the gun from the holster. Safety device 12 locks trigger 11 so that it cannot be retracted until the trigger 13 is rocked.

Two triggers 11 and 13, respectively, are placed alongside each other so that they can be actuated almost instinctively by the operator, first by swinging the safety trigger l3 counter clockwise away from the back or mounting plate 4 and then by retracting the trigger 11, as the operator moves his thumb down to make a fist, while gripping the butt of the firearm with his fingers and hand.

l have discovered that the continued downward application of pressure of the thumb upon the trigger II when releasing the latch, combines with the closing of the fingers around the gun butt to lift the gun clear of the cupand the hand automatically sweeps it forward into firing position without requiring conscious effort.

That is to say, the operating plan (indicated by an arrow in FIG. 4) of the trigger 11 for releasing the latch and the swinging arc of the trigger 13 for releasing the safety (indicated by arrows and divergent dashed lines in FIG. 2 follow paths norma! to each other. This has proven helpful not only in the quick draw of a handgun from the holster, but also is effectively defensive if a criminal is trying to wrest an officers gun from him. The safety device is held by detent 12a and has to be actuated by getting a finger or thumb between its trigger and the back or mounting plate 4, which is difficult to do except by the officer. The gun in the holster sheath 3 lies immediately adjacent the officers operating handv lclaim:

I 1. A holster for a hand gun, comprising:

a holster body adapted to receive a firearm, having a sheath of C-shaped cross section defining an elongated pocket, closed at one end by a cupshaped firearm muzzle receptacle;

said pocket conforming generally to the peripheral form of the barrel of the firearm to be received therein;

a second end of said holster being open to permit ready retraction of the firearm from said second end;

one side of said pocket also being open from the pocket to the atmosphere, from a point adjacent the cup-shaped receptacle through said second end of the holster, to per mit lateral retraction of the firearm as soonas the muzzle is lifted to a point clear of the cup-shaped receptacle;

a swingable latch spaced from, and movable over, said open one end of the holster sheath to engage the firearm, thereby to hold its muzzle against inadvertent retraction from said cup'shaped receptacle; and

a safety device movable in one position to hold the swingable latch over said one open end of the holster sheath, and aspring-bias means to move said swingabie latch out of alignment with said open end of the holster sheath to permit the muzzle of the firearm to be retracted from said cup and to permit saidfirearm to be retracted laterally from said holster through said open side. 2. The holster construction, as defined in claim 1. in which said holster sheath is carried hy'amounting plate of greater" generally in a plane extending across the open end of the holster sheath.

5. The holster construction as defined in claim 4, in which a safety device is provided for the latch trigger comprises a swingable trigger lying adjacent the latch trigger that moves in an operating plane normal to the operating plane of the latch trigger whereby said two triggers may be actuated selectivelyw by the operator thereof while withdrawing a firearm from the holster sheath. 

